An Estate Plan For Your Intangible Heritage
The clients of estate planning lawyers invest a lot of time on saving money after they die, which, when you say it out loud, sounds absurd. Everyone knows that going out of your way to avoid spending money even when you are financially secure isn’t about wanting to avoid poverty; it’s about wanting to win the game of keeping your money out of other people’s hands. If you decide to make this your priority, that is your prerogative, but you must admit that the art of being a cheapskate is a lot more fun when you are alive to see other people not get your money. Yes, you should make an estate plan. Your family will be much better off if your assisted living is already paid for so that your kids don’t have to fight about which one takes care of you at home in your old age, and so they aren’t constantly finding fault with each other about your care. Yes, you should keep accurate financial records so that creditor claims don’t surprise the personal representative of your estate during probate. In the end, though, what your descendants really want from you is not money. What they want is you. A Tampa estate planning lawyer can help you build an estate plan where you leave your relatives an inheritance that money cannot buy.
The Best Things You Can Inherit Aren’t Things
The United Nations keeps a register of pieces of intangible cultural heritage, namely customs and techniques of craftsmanship particular to specific areas of the world. Examples include folk dances, handicrafts, and epic poems performed from memory to musical accompaniment. If you think about it, your family has its own intangible cultural heritage, the family stories, family recipes, and family traditions that are not quite like anyone else’s?
How do you pass your intangible heritage on to the next generations of your family? The first step is family unity. Show your grandchildren how to cook the foods you learned to cook from your grandmother. Sing them the same songs your grandparents sang to you, even if your grandchildren are not proficient in your heritage language. Write down your family stories or record yourself telling them. Make sure your children know who all the family members in the black and white photographs are.
Of course, your family will be able to enjoy their time with you while you are alive, and their memories of you later on, if you do not put them in an impossible position when it comes to decisions about your medical care and your estate. Get the basics of your estate plan done sooner rather than later, including your will, your medical power of attorney, and your long-term care insurance. Then concentrate on preserving your intangible cultural heritage.
Contact David Toback About Focusing on the Important Things in Your Estate Plan
A Central Florida estate planning lawyer can help you preserve unity in your family by developing a streamlined estate plan. Contact David Toback in Tampa, Florida to set up a consultation.
Source:
ich.unesco.org/en/lists
